Wednesday 2 September 2009

Guri-Si

Guri- Si is a medium sized city about 40 minutes outside of Seoul. The best thing about Guri is its location. You can hop on one of numerous buses and they take you about 15-20 mins to the main subways lines. It also has a mountain called Achasan. Aside from that it is similar to most cities in Korea. There are a large amount of foreigners here as there are many many hagwons in Guri. Some meet up often at a bar called 'Moonblues' but there are many scattered around the city in the different areas. All in all I cant really complain too much about Guri, its been a good place to us and I think for first timers to korea its perfect as you have every convenience you may need readily available.

Theres a bit more info over at wiki. The picture on the site if from jajang lake park which is a pretty place in Guri to chill out at.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guri Jajang Park


Guri-Si
View from Achasan Mountain

A Delayed Contribution...

So I've been teaching in Korea for just over a year with my boyfriend (our hometown is Manchester, Uk). Why am i starting a blog right now? I don't really know, i suppose i'm looking at it as a project or something. Knowing myself I probably wont keep it up, but I'll at least make the first efforts.

So I suppose this should be treated as some sort of introduction. Well I am Emma, I'm 24 years old and have been teaching in a small city just outside of seoul called Guri-Si. Obviously since this is my second year I am thoroughly enjoying myself, all i can say is its an easy life out here. Free apartment, disposable income and if you're lucky an easy breezy teaching job. We work at a hagwon called Oe Dae. We work with fabulous korean teachers and for the most part it's not very stressful. At most we teach 12 students a class, each class lasting for 40 minutes. On an average day we have 5 40-minute classes. I really cant complain about the job. I think as long as you're adaptable to a different cultures working habits you would be fine. Sure we get told things very last minute and sometimes dont get told things at all but you have to accept that thats part of the korean hagwon system. Our working hours are 1pm-9pm with actual teaching time after 3pm. These hours suit me as I need my lie-ins!
Our Old Apartment, our bathroom was the worst however.(left) Our New Kitchen. (Below)
In terms of living accommodation for our first year we were placed in a bit of a dive to say the least. It was in a villa which are the old style housing blocks. Sure it had character but what it also had extra was mould and dilapidation. When you contract for a second year you basically have a lot more to gain. So we said we'd like a modern new apartment. We got one, its a bit small but its modern and a huge imrovement.
Anyways, theres the basic introductions, for now ill add some pictures.